A much awaited expansion of Yogi Adityanath government is finally done. Amid speculations of who is getting hot seat in first expansion of the government, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expanded his council of ministers with 24 ministers, who took oath at the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday morning.

Four ministers of state with independent charge were promoted as cabinet ministers, while two new faces, Ram Naresh Agnihotri and Kamla Rani Varun, joined as cabinet ministers.

The ministers who took oath as Cabinet ministers in the presence of UP Governor Anandiben Patel and the Chief Minister also included Mahendra Singh, Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and Anil Rajbhar.

Move of this expansion is seen as an attempt to please every section of the society, as BJP is eying for 2022 assembly polls.

Before this swearing-in, Rajesh Agarwal, Anupama Jaiswal, Dharam Pal Singh and Archana Pandey offered their resignations and that is accepted by the government.

Uttar Pradesh government currently consists of 43 ministers, including CM Adityanath, two deputy chief ministers, Dr Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya, 9 ministers of state with independent charge, and 13 ministers of the state.